Playwright: Dorothy L. Sayers,
adapted by Frances Limoncelli
At: Lifeline Theatre. 6912 N. Glenwood
Phone: (773) 761-1772; $20
Runs through: Aug. 15
BY MARY SHEN BARNIDGE
Start with a genius detective—an amateur, of course, of lofty lineage and independent income. Make him a freethinking intellectual, even to financing an all-female investigation agency, on the theory that women are better capable of escaping notice in a society still dominated by men mired in Edwardian complacence (London in 1928, for the record). Now, allow your otherwise bloodless hero to fall in love. Furthermore, have the object of his desire be a likewise independent-minded novelist, currently on death row for the murder of her paramour.
Thus runs Dorothy L. Sayers' recipe for a story steeped in feminist ideals no less seductive for being swaddled in a jolly good whodunit. Before the smitten Lord Peter Wimsey can hope to convince Miss Harriet Vane to marry him—no easy task, considering her rejection of the deceased's offer to legalize their union—he must first prove her innocent of any crime beyond flouting convention. To this purpose, Wimsey enlists the aid of his family, friends and a wide array of business associates ranging from stuffy stockbrokers to radical artists (the latter of whom run for cover when the hostess of a boho café summons Wimsey to the phone with a cheerful 'You're wanted by Scotland Yard!').
His hunt makes for a lot of dramatic action to pack into a mere 2-1/2 hours, but Frances Limoncelli—adaptator of Whose Body?, featured in Lifeline's 2002 season—effects another crisply efficient page-to-stage transition, paced with brisk alacrity by director Dorothy Milne. Peter Greenberg, his air of repressed exuberance rendering our sleuth a tweed-clad knight-in-armor, is perfectly matched with Jennifer Tyler, whose regal sang-froid reveals the puzzled prisoner to be a damsel-in-distress worthy of rescue.
The muscle of the show, however, is the six-member ensemble who adroitly orchestrate their overlapping dialogue and split-second delivery to portray no less than 19 characters, not including clusters of nameless bystanders. So vividly is each personality distinguished by body stance and vocal mannerism—Phil Timberlake's dialect instruction deserves a Jeff, even if the committee has to invent one—that our comprehension never falters for an instant during this suspense-filled chase for a killer.